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Magrathea
1948 CE - 1960 CE “Settlement and Organization” -In the year 1948 CE, thousands, or hundreds of thousands (Magrathean historians cannot tell the size of the landing party) of hobos, lost souls, people of little importance in the world at the time, communists, Democrats, losers, Republicans, fascists, fantasists, carnies, and university professors amassed a movement of exploration came together at the bay southeast of the stronghold of Coredgewell Greene, and hijacked more than 234 fishing and clamming vessels to set sail for new land and life. The motley and almost repulsive crew landed on an uninhabited island they came to know as “Magrethia” in English (the old spelling), or more colloquially and affectionately, "Maggie," on 15 November 1948. They then realized from further expedition in 1949 and 1950 that they were indeed surrounded by uninhabited islands of sufficient size for habitation, and jumped on the opportunity to claim land, allowing the English speakers to disperse throughout and lay claim to the island of Magrethia. These people came from six distinct nationalities and spoke at least seven separate languages. As one can imagine, communication across the language barrier between groups was incredibly difficult to overcome and was initially restricted to the universal languages of hand signals and very bad dancing. And incorrect mathematics. And music. But mostly very bad dancing. For the months and years of the so-called First Dozen (the dozen years between '48 and '60), as this seemingly random and unassuming unorganized rabble of settlers began to... well, settle into their new-found lives and daily routines on the Nine Islands, the people who spoke the same languages naturally formed what are historically called "cliques" by Magratheans, but should be called factions. This wasn't high school. Anyway, by June 1954, seven distinct groups of people had begun to form cohesive settlements on their respective islands and created rudimentary states. The French were in the far west, bordered by the Russian speakers on the modern islands of Maximelagon and Betelgeuse 5, and the Gaelic speakers on Betelgeuse 7 and New Betel in the East. The eastern border of the Russians was entirely English, and the Gaelic speakers were bordered by the Arab fishermen to the Southeast and the Russians in the North. The Arabs shared what is now Damogran with the Damn German Fascists, and to the South, on what is now Bethselamin, there were the Asian Marxists who spoke Korean. Now by 1956, all had written some laws, and had one or more leaders, and the Gaels, French, and Arabs (that Magrathean historians know of) had written what could be called "constitutions" or "bills of rights." Maps of the Nine Islands at various stages are available above. These early states lived in relative peace, only quarreling when it came to the borders of fishing areas, with the occasional Russian vessel wandering into the English zone following schools of various marine animals and getting yelled at or having small physical confrontations, often by using large rubber slingshots to fling fish and other living projectiles at one another at high speeds. There were approximately 82 deaths resulting from fish-to-skull trauma between 1950 and 1960. -'Culture and Lifestyle''': Fish-launching, or Pisco-marksmanship, is now one of the most popular sports in the Federation, and is played by attempting to accurately hit a pumpkin-headed mannequin on a distant boat with floating rubber fish. If the pumpkin is hit and is found to be not broken, exploded, or cracked, the three-man team gains a point. The more points a team gets, the more times they get whacked with a fish in the head (administered by the mayor of the nearest borough) when they return on land. Category:Nations